Jon McCarthy is wanting answers from his out-of-contract Chester FC players next week as he bids to press on with his plans for next season.
While only Ross Hannah and Ben Heneghan have been confirmed as having been offered new terms, Blues manager McCarthy has offered new deals to a number of last season's squad in a bid to bring some continuity.
And the new boss is hoping to get a number of those players in to the club next week to finalise terms so that he can give himself as much time as possible to piece together his squad and afford him the opportunity to know just how much money he will have available.
"In terms of contracts it is pretty much as it was but the players have been offered new terms now and we'll be looking to get them in to get pen on paper next week," said McCarthy, who was appointed Blues boss on Saturday.
"Speaking to the players and getting them in now is a priority but we will have to wait until next week as the secretary is away at the moment.
"Obviously keeping the Ross Hannah's and Ben Heneghan's is a key aim for us but we have offered new deals to several others from last season's squad and we are just waiting on that. I don't want to reveal much until I have that commitment and pen on paper, though."
READ: Ross Hannah open to Blues return after being offered new deal
McCarthy revealed both he and assistant manager Ian Sharps had spent time compiling plans A to Z and were scouring released lists from clubs, but stated that the hope was that much of the squad from last season would return.
"Me and Sharpy have irons in the fire and we've been keeping an eye on who has been released and who might be able to do a job for us," said McCarthy.
"We have everything from plan A to plan Z but first we want to try and make sure we get the deals done for the lads we want to bring back.
"I know fans will be itching to know what's happening and to see things get moving but we are just playing a waiting game at the moment before we can move forward, but hopefully things will become clearer soon.
"The main thing for us is that we get value for money. It is the supporters hard-earned money that makes up our budget and we won't go wasting that. We'll make sure that we get the best players we can for the best price, but that may take a bit of time.
"Players that have been released are usually released for a reason, whether that be they were on decent money or for poor form. There are a lot of good players available at the moment who have been released, and if they were on really good money somewhere they will want to get that again. I think we'll have to be patient with some targets as we can't waste a penny."
